Session 1- AI Agents in a LLM world: what and why?

10:00 AM to 11:30 PM
Studio 4

This session explores the nature and purpose of AI agents powered by large language models (LLMs). It will delve into how these agents operate—from language understanding to decision-making—and examine their growing levels of autonomy in handling complex tasks. We will discuss the rationale behind their increasing integration into key domains such as personal assistance, scientific research, and digital team coordination. The aim is to understand not just what these agents do, but why and how they are progressively transforming the way we work, interact, and generate knowledge.

Meet the speakers

  • Tom Lenaerts

    MODERATOR

    FARI Academic Director - Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)

    Tom Lenaerts is Professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles where he is co-heading the Machine Learning Group. He is currently the ULB director of the Interuniversity Institute of Bioinformatics in Brussels and vice-president of the ULB Computer Science Department. He holds also a partial affiliation as Associate Professor with the Artificial intelligence lab of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and he is board member of the Benelux Association for Artificial Intelligence (bnvki.org). He has worked in a variety of interdisciplinary domains and has co-authored many internationally published papers in AI, machine learning, optimisation, collective intelligence, computational biology and bioinformatics, aiming to answer theoretical and practical questions within computer, social, biological and medical sciences.

  • Xabier Barandiaran

    SPEAKER

    Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of the Basque Country and researcher at the IAS-Research Centre for Life, Mind, and Society

    Xavier Barandiaran is philosopher, engaged in the intersection of social practices, cognitive sciences and technopolitics. He is developing an interdisciplinary approach at the intersection of cognitive science, artificial life, neuroscience and social science, while actively involved in hacktivism, the reproduction of the commons and participatory democracy. He is a lecturer in philosophy at the University of the Basque Country and a researcher at IAS-Research. He is also co-founder of several social innovation initiatives such as Wikitoki, FLOK Society and Decidim. His academic and activist career has taken him to work in Spain, the UK, France and Austria, with a PhD on the autonomy of cognitive agents and a strong involvement in the design of democratic digital infrastructures, notably as director of democratic innovation at Barcelona City Council.

  • Catholijn Jonker

    SPEAKER

    Professor at Delft University of Technology and Leiden University. Chairperson of IPN the platform of ICT Research in the Netherlands.

    Catholijn Jonker is full professor of Interactive Intelligence at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science of the Delft University of Technology. Jonker studied computer science, and did her PhD studies at Utrecht University. After a post-doc position in Bern, Switzerland, she became assistant (later associate) professor at the Department of Artificial Intelligence of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. From September 2004 until September 2006 she was a full professor of Artificial Intelligence / Cognitive Science at the Nijmegen Institute of Cognition and Information of the Radboud University Nijmegen. She chaired De Jonge Akademie (Young Academy) of the KNAW (The Royal Netherlands Society of Arts and Sciences) in 2005 and 2006, and she was a member of the same organization from 2005 to 2010. She is a member of the Koninklijke Hollandsche Maarschappij der Wetenschappen andof the Academia Europaea. She was the president of the National Network Female Professors (LNVH) in The Netherlands from September 2013 till January 2016. She served TU Delft for one year as interim head of department for the Design Engineering Department (2014/2015). Catholijn is EurAI Fellow since 2015, and EurAI board member since 2016, EurAI is the European Association for Artificial Intelligence.

    Her publications address cognitive processes and concepts such as negotiation, teamwork and the dynamics of individual agents and organizations. In all her research lines Catholijn has adopted a value-sensitive approach. In particular, she works towards intelligent agents that can interact with their users in value-conflicting situations when also meta-values no longer solve the situation.  In Delft she works with an interdisciplinary team to create synergy between humans and technology by understanding, shaping and using fundamentals of intelligence and interaction. End 2007 her NWO-STW 1.5 M€ VICI project “Pocket Negotiator” has been awarded. In this project she develops intelligent decision support systems for negotiation.